Fishless cycle update

[Ggz123]

Apologies in advance if this should have been in my previous thread....

I am doing the cycle in 3 separate 32 gallon rubbermaid containers. Last night the ammonia reading dropped from 4 to 2! Progress! My plan is to move the media (once cycling is complete) to my tank (in the sump). My main tank is full of water and is running with nothing in it at the moment other than a few pot scrubbers and all the equipment such as heaters, pumps, lights, ph monitor, temp monitor, etc. A couple of questions.....

1. Prior to moving the cycled media to my tank, should I do a 100 % water change on the tank? Or is it okay since nothing has been in it and the ammonia readings our zero....
2. My pH level is 7.8......from what I've read, German raised discus to better than Asian raised discus with the higher ph.......any truth to that?

Thanks in advance......

[Phillydubs]

Greg,

May I ask why you are cycling in the buckets as opposed to the tank itself? Just curious?

I would change the water out or do at least 50% just to get fresh in w the new media.

Just keep the ph consistent and thats all that matters.

[Ggz123]

Greg,

May I ask why you are cycling in the buckets as opposed to the tank itself? Just curious?

I would change the water out or do at least 50% just to get fresh in w the new media.

Just keep the ph consistent and thats all that matters.

Most things I read while researching how to do a fishless cycle stated that using store bought commercial Ammonia (I am using ACE hardware brand) severely impacts the PH level.....so a 100 % water change would be needed after the cycling process completes. There were suggestions stating that doing the cycle with the media in other containers, then transferring the media to the tank was a better way of doing it while avoiding doing a 100% water change. Since I have 40 gallon sump underneath my 75 gallon tank, it seemed to make sense to me.

[Phillydubs]

Interesting. Like I said, I see no issue with it and was curious. Makes sense I guess. Just seems like a lot of extra work as opposed to the one big water change before you start up. But carry on and let us know how it goes!

[Ggz123]

Interesting. Like I said, I see no issue with it and was curious. Makes sense I guess. Just seems like a lot of extra work as opposed to the one big water change before you start up. But carry on and let us know how it goes!

Thanks for the input........it probably is more work but I'm a beginner and trying to be extra cautious.......

Any input regarding German raised discus being a better fit for higher ph levels than Asian raised? If so, Hans S. will be the way to go for me as I don't know of any other big name sellers who primarily sell German. As always, thanks in advance.

[DJW]

Most things I read while researching how to do a fishless cycle stated that using store bought commercial Ammonia (I am using ACE hardware brand) severely impacts the PH level.....so a 100 % water change would be needed after the cycling process completes. There were suggestions stating that doing the cycle with the media in other containers, then transferring the media to the tank was a better way of doing it while avoiding doing a 100% water change. Since I have 40 gallon sump underneath my 75 gallon tank, it seemed to make sense to me.

When you first add a large dose of that type of ammonia the pH goes up dramatically, but this is only temporary as you will see it go down close to its prior level over a few hours. In fishless cycling this is not something to be worried about.

By cycling in separate containers you theoretically wouldn't have to do a big WC on the tank at the end of the process to remove the accumulated nitrates, but it would be better to put fresh water in the tank anyway. I think the person who suggested that is just afraid of water changes.

[Ggz123]

Ok, progress! one of my 32 gallon containers has went through the ammonia cycle and is now getting nitrite readings..........from what I read, I still need to add/monitor ammonia levels so the ammonia eating bacteria do not die......

[Filip]

It would be much easier to do the fishless cycle in your fully prepared display tank next time you do it .
100% WC a day before your discus arrive and you are good to go . I would still do 100% WC a day prior the discus arrival regardless of what you did .

As for Germans being more prepared to a higher pH than Asians I guess it is safe to assume that discus will thrive in water with parameters closer to the parameters it was born and raised with .
At least it wouldn't have to shock and adjust to new water in the initial phase I.e . first few weeks .